


On Call

by wraithe



Category: 30 Seconds to Mars
Genre: F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 15:28:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13767063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraithe/pseuds/wraithe
Summary: ~Sequel to Overtime~   Stress and Distance have pulled Jared and Mikaela apart. Now that he is back in town, Jared has a plan to help them find their way back to each other





	On Call

On Call

 

I looked wistfully at my phone screen as it buzzed in my hand. It had been weeks since I last heard from Jared and nearly two months since I had actually seen him. I had finished the project at his house finally, if not to his satisfaction at least to the point where he had run out of ideas to tack things on to the end of it. Or so I thought. Things carried on for a while after that but then he was jetting off, shooting another movie, and I picked up a new contract here in Los Angeles. He had called at first, then the calls became texts, and then eventually those dried up too. It wasn't surprising but it was disappointing. I was trying to decide whether it was best to just let the whole thing go when the call switched over to voicemail. Decision made, I guess. I went back to packing up my laptop and tools and getting ready to go home for the day.

I ignored the chime that let me know that there was a voicemail waiting and loaded my tools into my truck. This job had been more physical than the ones I usually took, installing a network from the ground up before integrating management systems and databases. I was hot and dusty from pulling cables all day and ready to get home and take a shower. When my phone began ringing again in my pocket I groaned but a quick glance told me that the unfamiliar number wasn't Jared's so I picked up.

“Hold please,” came the female voice on the other end as soon as I had answered. The silence was soon replaced by Jared's familiar tones.

“Hey Mikaela,” he said hesitantly. I cursed myself for being stupid enough to fall for such a simple trick. He hadn't even waited very long between the calls.

“Jared,” I replied coolly, trying to keep my heart and my hormones in neutral but knowing that the sound of that melodic voice in my ear was going to make that damn near impossible. I reminded myself I had righteous indignation on my side. He had tossed me away like a toy he had grown bored with the minute I was out of sight. I deserved better than this.

“Uhm, so, I'm back in town now...”

I cut him off. “Who's phone are you using?”

There was a brief pause before he answered. “Reni's.”

“And why is that? I didn't answer for you, so you trying to trick me into picking up either means you don't care that I didn't want to talk to you or you can't take no for an answer. Which is it, Jared?” There was an awkward silence. “Congratulations. You're back in town. I'm not interested in your booty call. Give the poor girl back her phone.”

I started to hang up but Jared called out “Wait. It's not like that. It's uh....”

I bit my lip. His hesitation told me yes, it was very much 'like that', but I was curious as to what yarn he was about to spin. “Okay then, what's it like?”

“There's a problem,” he said hastily. “You're supposed to be on call if the stuff you set up breaks, it's in your contract.”

“Fine. Have someone call me tomorrow and I'll make arrangements to come out there and look it over.”

“But... It's an emergency,” he spluttered.

I climbed into my truck with a sigh and stared at the phone screen for a minute before answering. “It's an emergency,” I repeated dryly.

“Yes. It's an emergency and I need you to come out and take a look at it. Tonight,” he added a little more confidently, sure he had found the loophole he was looking for.

“An emergency,” I repeated again, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “A picture storage emergency?”

“There's something wrong in there. In the server room.”

Good grief. “Jared that's not a server room. It's an old storage closet with a box, a router, and some plastic bins.”

“It's climate controlled.”

“That's for the pictures.”

“It's in your contract,” he repeated.

I wanted to snap my phone in half but it wasn't the phone's fault. Why couldn't Jared be honest about anything? Why did he always have to keep playing these games with me? I supposed I didn't make it very easy for him, it seemed something in me had fought him at every turn, even before he pulled his vanishing act. At any rate, I knew there was no way I was getting out of a trip to his place - he would badger me and find loopholes until I agreed - so I figured I might as well get it over with. “Fine. I'll come out and check it. But I have to swing by my place first. I'll be there in about an hour.”

“That's perfect. I'll be in the back working so just let yourself in. The alarm code is still the same.” I could hear the triumph in his voice.

“This emergency had better not be in your pants, Jared.”

He didn't reply, just clicked the call closed. With a groan, I started my truck.

 

An hour later I was freshly showered and pulling into Jared's driveway. I didn't fail to notice the copious lack of other vehicles present. It was a rare thing for him to be completely alone, and I was willing to bet he orchestrated that. I paused long enough to pull my work bag out before heading inside.

I had no trouble remembering the code to disarm the alarm and once I had it settled I threaded my way more deeply into the house. Everything was dark, and when I reached for a light switch there was no response. I flicked it several times and looked around at the silent house carefully.

“I've found your problem!” I called sarcastically into the quiet house. “No electricity means no electronic things working. I'll send you my bill!”

There was no response, which struck me as quite strange considering that Jared knew I should be arriving by now. I realized it was possible that something could have happened when the power went out, and with his minions gone there would be no one around to help. I was very frustrated with Jared at the moment but I wasn't so irritated with him that I wanted him lying alone and injured on the floor somewhere “Jared?”

I took a few more steps into the house and caught sight of something that seemed like movement ahead of me. A few more feet in I realized it was the flickering of a candle. “Jared?” I called out again. “Hello?” A few feet further than that and I realized it wasn't a single candle but a veritable Yankee Candle Store full inventory of them, all sizes and shapes, laid out along the floor like a path, beckoning me on. I dropped my bag with a sigh while I sussed out what to do.

It wasn't as if I didn't want to see Jared again. That was the entire problem, really. Jared drove me to madness in more than one way. He was so gorgeous, so sexy, every time I looked at him I had to fight an urge to pull his clothes off and tackle him onto whatever the nearest horizontal surface was. He was smart and witty and made me laugh in ways that no other man ever had. But he was also stubborn and bossy, exacting in his tastes and demanding of everyone around him, including me, even after our business relationship had ended. There was also a walled off-ness about him, he only ever seemed willing to give me a small piece of himself, and he seemed completely incapable of honestly telling me what he wanted or what his feelings were. This evening being case in point. He wanted me to come see him, but instead of saying that, he jumped through hoops to find ridiculous reasons to compel me to appear, like I was being called before his court.

If I were being really honest with myself, however, I didn't exactly make it easy for Jared to open up to me. I had fallen for him much harder than I meant to, and what I anticipated being only a fling had turned into what I thought was a one-sided love affair. I tried to maintain what little distance I could, for my own sanity's sake, but when he had gotten busy with this latest film and we had drifted apart, it hurt me far more than I had let on. Still, I knew why his royal highness had summoned this particular peasant before the throne tonight yet I hadn't refused. I had instead taken the time to go home, shower, apply fresh makeup and his favorite perfume, and dress carefully but casually in my favorite jeans that made my ass look like I lived to do squats. He wasn't the only one playing games. I thought the difference was the games I was playing I played with my own feelings. I was just trying to get through this with a shred of dignity left and a not entirely pulverized heart.

I knew I was making a lot of assumptions – about what he felt, about what his intentions were -- but Jared didn't give me a chance to do much else. I didn't know what was going on in his head, or why things had fallen apart. I just knew I was hurt by the way he had ignored me but now seemed to think it was just fine to order me up for another booty call. I decided I wanted some answers. I ventured on.

“Jared?” I called a little more loudly and firmly as I followed the flickering path along. “This is looking more and more like a pants emergency. I am not amused.” I shouted. There was still no response.

The trail of light led, unsurprisingly, to the door of the closet we had set up to house his collection of pictures and other memorabilia. “I swear to dog, Jared, if I open this door and find you naked...” I turned the handle and stepped inside.

The small room was awash in light from taper and pillar candles and multi-colored lanterns hanging from the ceiling that made its plain boxy confines look like the inside of a kaleidoscope. There was a blanket laid out on the floor, with a picnic-style meal, flowers and a bottle of what appeared to be chilled champagne. Jared stood at the opposite end, a rose in hand, looking sheepish but hopeful. “Happy Anniversary,” he said.

Every thought in my head screamed to a halt. “What? Happy... WHAT?”

He drew in a quick breath and handed me the rose. “Anniversary. Happy Anniversary. It's been six months.”

“Six months since what exactly, Jared?”

Jared looked confused. “Six months since...”

“Since you bent me over a desk and fucked me? Six months of what exactly? Because I have no idea. I didn't even think you were speaking to me.”

Jared scratched his chin. “I'm sorry, Mak. I was busy with the shoot, we got behind schedule and the end was just a crazy rush to get things done, and...”

“Look, that maybe explains the last few weeks. How about he months before that?” I asked, the hurt creeping into my voice. “You said being away wouldn't change things between us but I knew it would fall apart. You're so easily distracted... “

“You know, you're the one that just stopped the texting. I was trying to keep in touch but you just cut me off, Mak. I thought maybe once I got back we could straighten this out. You don't know how much I've missed you,” Jared pleaded.

“Well, whose fault is that?” I protested. “If I don't know how you feel maybe it's because I'm not psychic, Jared.”

Jared sighed and scratched his chin again. “This is not going the way I hoped it would. Could we just sit down and eat together and maybe try to work this out? Please?”

“I'm sorry if I'm not responding the way the script in your head says I should. Maybe if you fed me lines....”

“Mak, please.”

My head told me to leave. Jared was messy and complicated, too busy to realistically give me much of himself. But the plain fact of the matter was my heart wanted him. This had stopped being a simple crush a long time ago and had become something more powerful. Yes, he was challenging but I usually liked a challenge. I just hadn't thought I was making any progress with him. Now that I stood here, I wasn't so sure about that anymore. It wasn't easy to just walk away, especially not with Jared standing there in the candlelight, looking so hopeful, pleading with me to stay. I sat down.

Jared smiled and wiped his palms on the front of his pants before sitting down across from me. He reached into the basket that was sitting out and pulled out a few pieces of fruit before offering me some grapes.

I made an indignant noise before asking him, “Wait, you actually want to eat dinner?”

Jared gave me a confused look. “Well, I did get this ready... why? Have you already eaten?”

I took a deep breath and counted to ten, then dove right in. “Jared, what does a relationship look like to you?” He continued to give me that confused look. “Is this normal to you? Not seeing each other for months, barely speaking and then you make sandwiches and create a fire hazard that you lie to get me to come and see and it's all supposed to be just another day? By the way, the sprinkler system does still work with the power off right? That's a lot of unsupervised open flame out there.”

With a sigh, Jared dropped the fruit onto the blanket in front of him. “Why do you have to make everything so difficult, Mak? Can't we just be together? I know I was gone for a while and it was hard for you, but I'm here now, and...”

“Oh my god the things wrong with that sentence...” I shook my head. “First of all, no, we can't just “be together”. Because “just being together” with you ends up amounting to me sitting around alone, waiting to see when you'll show up again or call me, with no real expectation of when or even if that's going to happen and no, I don't like that, I'm not going to go for it, I'm worth more than that.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I didn't think...” Jared was frowning and voice was uncharacteristically soft, but I wasn't done.

“Secondly, it was 'hard for me'? Are you fucking serious? Can't you even admit you missed me while you were gone? It was hard for ME?”

“That's not what I meant either, Mak, I swear. And I already said I missed you!”

I forged on. “And screw this “I'm back now, let's pretend like everything is fine” bullshit. “Things are not fine.” I spluttered out.

Jared looked at his hands for a minute before asking me in a measured tone, “So, would you like a sandwich or not?”

“Would I... WHAT? Jared....” I was beginning to think that maybe he had actually fallen in the dark and hit his head. None of this made any kind of sense. “Are you all right?”

There was a moment of silence as Jared stared at the picnic in front of him, lost in thought, looking somewhat confused. Then he seemed to find himself again and just like that, there was the Jared I had been dealing with for the last six months, smirking back at me as he handed me a champagne flute. “I'd just hate for you to drink on an empty stomach. You know it goes right to your head, Mikaela.”

I crossed my arms in front of me, refusing to take the glass. Jared just shrugged and sat down in front of me and then started opening the champagne bottle. “Don't act like you're not interested. You'd have left when you saw the candles if that were the case,” he said. Fuck. He knew he had me. That's why he was smiling.

“I just wanted to see what crazy thing you had cooked up,” I said defensively. “I thought maybe you were going to apologize for the way you had been acting. I should have known better. And now that I've seen it, I guess I can go.”

I moved to stand up again and Jared quickly got to his feet as well. “Why are you being like this?” he demanded.

“Why am I being like this? Me? Why are you being like this? What's wrong with you?”

“There's nothing wrong with me. I did this nice romantic thing hoping that we could straighten everything out and … “

Before I could react, Jared took a giant step over the food-laden blanket and grabbed me by the waist, pulling me against him and capturing my lips with his own. The second we connected I felt it again, that electric jolt that set my heart racing and sent every ounce of sense I had scrambling out of my head. I let myself enjoy it for a minute, telling myself it was one last time, one final kiss to remember the incredible way he made me feel. Then I planted my palms against his firm chest and gave him a hard shove backward. “Asshole,” I told him. “I don't want gestures.”

Jared growled and lowered his eyelids as he continued to smirk at me. “I know what you want, Mak.”

“Do you? Because I don't think you have a clue.”

Jared lunged at me again, grabbing me by the arms and twirling me around until I was pinned against the wall. “Maybe if you would try listening for one minute...”

I tried to move my hands back to his chest but he grabbed my wrists, lifting my arms and pinning them just over my head. “So tell me then,” I dared him.

Jared grinned and leaned forward, slowly running his tongue up the side of my throat. My breath hitched in my chest and my lips parted, and I swear I could actually feel my pupils dilate. He was like a drug. “Fuck, Mak, you make me so crazy....” he said as he pressed himself tightly against me and rested his forehead against mine. I could feel his heart racing at a pace that matched my own. “I've been off balance since the minute you walked through that door. I can't get you out of my head. And I tried, I admit it.” He pulled back just a bit, just enough that I could see those long lashes of his fluttering as his ocean deep eyes took me in. “I tried to concentrate on my work, and yes, I stopped calling, hoping to get my focus back, but everywhere I went there was a ghost of you with me. I'd close my eyes at night and feel you lying next to me. I'd hear you in empty rooms where you couldn't be. I swear sometimes I would dream about you and when I woke up I could smell you on my body. You wanted me to tell you what you want? You wanted to hear this, for me to open up. You want to know how I feel, what's going on in my head? Well, you're what's going on in my head, Mak. Just you. You're the only thing that matters anymore and the only thing I want.”

As I reeled from his confession, a rush of emotions making me dizzy, he brushed his lips gently across mine. I whimpered at the tantalizing contact, my body already four steps ahead of my mind. “I don't... I didn't think.....” I struggled to find words.

“Don't make me miss you anymore. Please, Mikaela...”

He released my wrists, his hand moving downward, his thumb tracing the ridge of my cheekbone before he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into a powerful kiss. I wrapped my arms around his waist, anchoring him against me. He was right, I had needed to hear how he felt but it seemed so out of the blue, such an abrupt change of direction that I couldn't trust it. I wanted him too much.

“You're just going to go away and do this to me again, Jared,” I protested when he broke away for a breath. “Like you said, it's been six months. You've had six months to at least make some attempt at telling me this. I can't just....”

He kissed me again, our chests heaving together My mind was getting cloudier as the rush of being this close to him overtook me. “Oh, Mak...” he whispered, brushing his lips against my ear, covering my cheeks in tiny kisses. “What have you done to me?”

“Jared...” There were words trapped in my chest, protests dying at the back of my throat. I remembered how good it felt to simply be with him, curled up on his sofa and fighting over the bowl of popcorn as we watched a movie, smiling at him over morning coffee, the sound of him humming in the shower. Yes, he was complicated and difficult, but so was I, and maybe what we had both needed all along was someone to challenge us. He certainly did that for me.

Jared kept his body pressed tightly against mine as he let his mouth travel to my throat, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. He cupped the side of my face in his hand, sliding his thumb between my lips. My lips trembled as I drew it in with a sigh, the need he inspired in me already taking over. It was gone from my mouth again soon, traveling downward, his rough fingertips tracing the swell of my throat, leisurely migrating to my chest where they found the buttons of my blouse and began unfastening them.

“Jared...” I tried again to set those trapped words free, but Jared just covered my mouth with his again, our tongues warring for dominance as he continued to undress me, flicking open buttons one by one. I didn't even know what I wanted to say anymore. I was so locked into warring with him it was if I couldn't accept that maybe the war was over. Did I win? Did we both? What did that mean? Was this a relationship now, a real one? How did that even work with him? I didn't know if I knew how to relate to Jared if one or the both of us weren't constantly keeping one cautious eye on the exit. “What is this?” I managed to squeak out.

Jared smiled and ran his thumb over my cheekbone again. “Shh. Stop fighting me. I told you I missed you. Let me show you how much.”

With that he dropped to his knees in front of me, carefully taking one foot in his hand before pulling off my sneaker and sock and tossing them aside. He smirked as he did the same thing with the other foot, then rose again, pulling his shirt off before pressing his body against mine again. I let loose a shaking breath as he pulled my shirt away and then slid the straps of my bra down my shoulders It may have been months but there hadn't been anyone since him, no one could compare, but now I felt the weeks of pent-up passion catching fire at his touch.

He let his mouth travel my flesh again, his tongue whorling against my flushed skin until he closed his lips over my hardened nipple with a moan that made my chest vibrate. I arched into him and knotted my fingers into his hair, whimpering with pleasure. He wasn't content to stop there, moving quickly to my other breast, his hands unfastening my jeans as he worked. Soon he was on his knees again, pulling those last remaining remnants of my clothing loose, tucking my lacy white panties in his pockets with a smirk before lifting one leg and placing it over his shoulder.

Starting just above my knee, Jared nibbled his way up my thigh, moaning appreciatively when he reached the arousal damp skin at its top. His eyes locked with mine as he blew softly against my core and I let out a moan of my own, my legs already shaking with anticipation. With a smile he traced his finger through my folds, biting his lip as he watched me struggle to keep my eyes on him.

“So wet for me, Mak. You know that's how I like you,” he growled before plunging his tongue into my dampness. I mewled and bucked as he gripped my thigh tightly, anchoring me against him as his mouth explored my depths. When he drew my hardened bud between his lips I gasped and grabbed for his hair again, a lava hot knot of desire burning in my stomach. His tongue was even more wicked here than when he spoke, curling against my channel and thrumming against my clit, leading me to the edge so quickly I couldn't help but shout when I finally came apart against him, my walls clenching against his invading fingers as he lapped at the flood of my climax.

Rather than rising again Jared just pulled me to the floor with him, shoving his picnic aside before stretching me out on the blanket beneath him. I reached between us, palming the bulge in his jeans before fumbling my way to their waist, desperate to free him. Jared shifted his weight and reached down to help me, hastily shoving his pants down his narrow hips. I kept my grip on him as he moved, and once he had shed the troublesome fabric I gripped his thigh and tugged him forward, hoping he would get the idea. He hesitated only for a moment before leering back at me, crawling up my body like a beautiful ombre-haired lion, straddling my upper chest and bracing himself against his heels.

I wrapped my hand around his impressive shaft, giving him a few firm strokes before bringing him to my mouth. I swirled my tongue around his tip, feeling him shudder in my grasp, before swirling my tongue down the length of him. The growls he made as I sucked and stroked him did nothing to dispel that lion like image I had of him. Hollowing my cheeks I pulled him in deeper, humming and moaning as he reached the back of my throat. He swore and moaned, grabbing my hair and pulling me even further down onto his hard cock, my eyes watering as his hips pumped against me. With another moan, he turned me loose and I gasped for air while he repositioned himself.

“Baby....” he sighed, dragging his head across the crevice between my folds, lingering just a moment at that sensitive bundle of nerves at their apex before sliding into position, inching slowly forward. He took such care filling me, watching my face as I took him in, and I couldn't help but feel like this was so much different than any other time we had been together. The mood was shifting rapidly, urgent need giving way to something less carnal, more ephemeral. I tried to raise those walls again, to get some distance between myself and what I knew was happening, but it was too late. The ache in my chest as those blue eyes bored through me told me I was already gone.

I wrapped my legs around him as he moved inside me, the now familiar weight of his body pinning me in place. I let my hands find their favorite spot, locked against the firm muscles just below the small of his back, feeling them flex as he drove into me. The sounds of our whimpers and sighs filled the small room like our own personal music, the flickering light dancing in time to our passion. I could feel my walls tightening around him as he thrust into me, my body giving over to him again, and I refused to feel guilty about it. Maybe this wasn't where I intended to end up when I drove over here, but I hadn't anticipated the abrupt about-face from Jared either. Maybe I had sworn not to end up naked underneath him again but that was when I thought this was just more casual sex. The way he looked at me, the way he moaned my name as I raked my fingers up his bare back told me this was anything but another night in his bed.

I could feel it again, that bliss starting to take over and carry me away, and I wanted him to fall with me, but I wasn't ready for either of us to get there just yet. I shifted underneath him, trying to prolong the pleasure as I drew him in deeper. He lowered his face to mine, his tongue skimming across the surface of my lips before parting them to claim me. I loved the way we molded together when he let himself fall against me and I could feel the small amount of willpower I had been clinging to melting away.

“Come for me, Makaela, I want to feel you closing around me,” he whispered in my ear, his voice husky with want. His hand slipped between us, finding the junction where we met, tormenting that sensitive bud at its entrance.

“You too,” I whimpered in response. “Come with me, baby.”

Jared groaned and closed his eyes, throwing his head back as he changed the angle of assault, hitting something inside me that sent off sparks and left me trembling against him.

“Please....” I whimpered again and he nodded, his chest heaving, his thrusts becoming more erratic. I knew it was now or never and so I stopped fighting it, giving in to the clever working of his fingers against me, waves of pleasure washing over me as I felt him twitch and thicken. With a hoarse cry, he grabbed me by the shoulders, pressing his forehead into mine and locking our gazes together as he spilled inside me. We rode the high out for as long as we could before he moved beside me, drawing me against his chest.

Doubt began to creep back in as the euphoria wore off. Had he done it again, drawn me into his web of perfect abs and emotional avoidance, only to send me right back to wondering where his head and heart were? “Jared?” I questioned, my voice muffled against his skin.

He kissed the top of my head and sighed. “What have I done now?”

“This isn't....” I searched for the words to frame my question in a way that didn't sound like an accusation but that wouldn't further any hurt that might be coming down the line. “I mean, all this, it wasn't just some ploy....”

He chuckled, a bright sound from deep in his chest that rumbled against my ear. I smiled as soon as he did it, I knew from his tone that all was well. “You can't cut me even five minutes of slack, can you Mak?”

I shifted so that I was face to face with him, my heart doing somersaults at the merry way his eyes crinkled when he looked at me. “If I'm a little baffled by your strange shift in behavior, can you really blame me? You took me by surprise here. What is all this, now? Where does this leave us?”

“Dammit, you just will not let it be, will you?” he asked. His words were short but his tone was playful. “I supposed I had better get used to it though. I think there's going to be a lot of your stubbornness in my future.”

“My stubbornness? MY stubbornness? Really?” I balked. Then the words hit me. “Wait, what?”

“Silly woman. Weren't you listening to me?” He brushed the hair from my face and then cradled my head in his hands. “Don't you understand I'm in love with you?”

“I...” I spluttered and tried to respond, but there were too many thoughts in my head, too many questions about what that meant, and I realized that maybe, just this once, I needed to let it go for now. To just enjoy this moment, unexamined, and let the next steps unfold as they were. Because he wasn't the only one. I knew what I had tried to so desperately to avoid myself and had failed so completely at.

“I love you too.”

 


End file.
